1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the fields of virology, molecular biology and medicine. More particularly, it concerns the discovery of compounds that inhibit influenza virus NS1 protein.
2. Description of Related Art
Influenza viruses cause approximately 36,000 deaths annually in the United States (91) and ˜500,000 deaths worldwide per year (Smith et al., 2004). Strains that are extremely pathogenic have been responsible for high numbers of deaths worldwide, such as the 1918 pandemic which led to ˜30 million deaths around the world (Webster, 1999). Currently, there are only two basic therapeutic approaches available for treating pandemic influenza: vaccination and inhibitors of virus infection or replication. Vaccination, although highly effective against certain strains, is limited by the highly mutable nature of the virus and must be reconstituted annually to address the changing viral ecology. A number of drugs have been developed that inhibit various steps in viral infection and replication, but they have demonstrated only limited efficacy. Thus, the availability of additional therapeutic modalities for the treatment of influenza viral diseases is presently unsatisfactory. Other treatments and routes of influenza virus mitigation are therefore needed.